Bay Village updates website with emergency information

By SCOTT MAHONEY

Thursday, June 13, 2013

BAY VILLAGE -- The city has started moving forward with some of the recommendations made early last month by the Bay Village Emergency Communications Task Force.

An emergency preparedness page has been added to the city's website at cityofbayvillage.com. The page has a number of links to information for residents on preparing for emergency situations, such as Superstorm Sandy.

The task force was appointed by Mayor Debbie Sutherland last year in the wake of communication problems after Superstorm Sandy struck the East Coast, and caused havoc across the Midwest. During that time, many residents were left without phone, Internet access or power for a number of days, making it difficult to get safety notices to them.

The new page on the city website encourages residents to review the Emergency Information Manual, which it provides a link to. The manual was prepared by the Bay Village Fire Department and offers residents advice on being prepared for severe weather, lasting power outages and other disasters.

Another recommendation of the communications task force that the city has implemented is an emergency alert pop-up feature to the city's website.

When logging on to the Bay Village website an alert message will pop up on the screen with an emergency alert message, when needed. Site visitors will have the ability to close the message upon entering the site; it will reappear each time a new user session is started.

The city also is encouraging residents to enroll in Nixle Emergency Alerts. With Nixle, residents can receive emergency alerts via text message or email. At the end of June, the city expects the Nixle dial system to be activated, which will be an automated call service that will relay emergency messages to homeowners.

The emergency preparedness page also includes links to the Westshore Community Emergency Response Team, The American Red Cross and Ready.gov.

Westshore CERT is a group of trained citizens from Bay Village, Rocky River, Lakewood, Fairview Park, North Olmsted and Westlake who educate and prepare participants for hazards that may impact them in the event of community emergencies or disasters.

Ready.gov is a federal government website which is designed to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to emergencies including natural disasters and potential terrorist attacks.

The emergency preparedness page can be access from the Bay Village website by clicking on the "Safety Services" tab at the top of the site's homepage and then clicking on "Emergency Preparedness" on the left side of the "Safety Services" page.

"Residents need to be proactive and prepare for emergencies, whether it's sheltering in your home or, if the need arises, to evacuate," Sutherland stated in an email to residents. "Both FEMA and the Red Cross have disaster kit lists available on their websites."